When most people think of the term March Madness they think of the NCAA College Basketball Tournament, however politically speaking, March Madness has a completely different meaning - spending at the end of the fiscal year to use up all of one's budget.

Since the beginning of March, the province has put out over 20 news releases, most of which have some sort of spending attached to it. The following is a condensed version of some the money being handed out:

• A federal/provincial venture to the tune of $250,000 on a campaign to target youth smoking - maybe our youth are smoking because they are stressed out about the taxes they are going to have to pay in the future
  
• $80,000 for workplace assessment programs that allow employees to identify, document and gain recognition for existing knowledge and skills - what the hell does that mean
  
• $35,000 to fund a new program in arts and cultural management - a better use of this money would have been to flush it down the toilet
  
• yet another Manitoba/Canada joint venture for low to moderate income earners, $1,384,179 in new or renovated rental housing - here is a thought, why not cut taxes and raise the basic personal exemption so they can afford their own homes
  
• $10 million in provincial support for pre-project training initiatives in preparation of the construction of the proposed Manitoba Hydro generating station - how much will the post-project training cost
  
• $350,000 to further support the Northern Forest Diversification Centre - a better way to help the northern communities would be to give Aboriginals private property rights

Tell us again Mr. Premier, this isn't your pre-writ agenda

Not all of the money handed out over the past few weeks has been for irrelevant ventures - over $6 million went towards funding for much-needed specialized medical equipment.

It is worth noting that it wasn't only the Province of Manitoba spending money like it was going out of style, the feds were at it too. Last week Heritage Minister Sheila Copps came to Winnipeg to throw some federal cash around - $1 million for the art gallery and another $250K for the perpetually struggling Winnipeg Symphony. Thanks Madame Minister, good thing we have all of that money for art even though it is a struggle to drive to the gallery because the roads are so torn up.

Perhaps the most exorbitant spending announcement as of late came to us courtesy of PM Chrétien and Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Stephane Dion - $750 million for bilingualism. The timing of this particular spending spree is priceless - the same day as the Quebec provincial election was called - seems like a lot of money to shore up Charest's sagging chances, n'est ce pas As an aside, since bilingualism began taxpayers have doled out approximately $37 billion. A so-called "gift to Canadians" from the late Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau - bilingualism is the gift that keeps on giving.

At last count between both levels of government doled out over $775 million dollars - yikes! Hold onto your wallets ladies and gentlemen, the month of March isn't even over yet!